My Deskmate Chapter 4 (Part 1)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 4.1
Yaya tilted her head and looked at her older brother in confusion. "Why can't I call him Cola-gege?"
Chi Ye: "Why so many whys? Do you have 110,000 of them?"
Yaya persisted. "How many is 110,000? Why can't I call him Cola-gege?"
Frustrated by the constant string of "gege," Chi Ye spoke up, "Because cola—"
"Didn't you just say you’ll buy me a beer?" Wen Xiao interrupted before Chi Ye could finish.
"Yes," Chi Ye swallowed back the words "kills sperms," and nodded. "Draft beer, Tuborg, Snowflake, Pineapple beer, take your pick. If you want something pricier, that’s fine too. I’ll sell myself to buy it for you."
Wen Xiao casually lifted the hood of his black sweatshirt, adjusted it, and stuffed his hands loosely in his pockets, leaving just a small section of his pale wrist visible. "No need to sell yourself. Just your labor is enough."
Outside the post office.
After setting down the last heavy box, Chi Ye’s boots crunched as he stepped on a dry, yellow sycamore leaf. He straightened up and said, "Hey, my friend, are you packing bricks or cement in there? Do you know why couriers won’t deliver it? Because after carrying that, they'd be out on sick leave with a back injury."
Wen Xiao’s gaze shifted to Chi Ye’s waist.
Chi Ye took half a step back. "My back is fine, no need to worry."
Wen Xiao withdrew his gaze, his expression neutral. "We're even now."
The sunlight was blocked by a thick cloud. Chi Ye smiled. "Alright, one thing settled. If we meet again, we’ll call it fate." He waved to his sister. "Yaya, say goodbye."
Yaya, holding a wildflower she had picked from God knows where, looked up with choppy bangs and clear eyes. She obediently spoke, "Goodbye, Cola-gege. I’m going home with my gege."
Facing the little girl, Wen Xiao spoke a bit more smoothly. "Hmm, next time you run around, remember to watch where you're going."
Yaya was pulled along by Chi Ye for a short distance, but then she broke free of her brother's hand, turned around and ran to Wen Xiao, handing him the wildflower. "Thank you, Cola-gege."
After Wen Xiao took the flower, she quickly ran back to her brother.
Chi Ye took his sister’s hand again, then asked, "Still giving flowers? Tell me, is it because you think he’s good-looking?"
Yaya frowned. "Superficial!"
"Oh? You’ve learned a new word to criticize your gege?"
Yaya glanced back, still concerned. "There’s so much stuff. Do you think Cola-gege can carry it all home?"
Chi Ye frowned as well, wondering if his sister was really that slow-witted. She had been sharp as a kid. How could they be from the same mother and be so different?
He spoke with heartfelt seriousness. "My silly little goose, all these crappy little tricycles on the street aren't here for an exhibition, you know. And by the way, can you spare a thought for your injured ge? After being chased around those few laps yesterday, my wound is about to tear open. It hurts like hell."
It wasn’t until the afternoon of the next day that Wen Xiao finished unpacking his luggage. There wasn’t much to it — mostly books. Grandma had already cleared out a space in the study and ordered a new bookshelf, but there were still many obscure textbooks that wouldn’t fit, so they were stuffed into the suitcase and piled in the corner of the room.
Wen Xiao was standing in front of the bookshelf, lost in thought. Grandma had been standing at the door for a while before finally breaking the silence. "Your mom and dad's books combined are more than my old bones can handle. You must be tired from sorting all that out."
Wen Xiao snapped out of his trance. "I'm not tired, Grandma. Why don’t you take a longer nap?"
"I'm an old woman, I can't sleep in bed even if I want to, unlike young people like you who can sleep until dawn with their eyes closed." Grandma waved for him to come out of the study. "We’re out of vegetables. Go downstairs and buy some, and I’ll stir-fry them for you tonight. While you're at it, take a walk around to get familiar with the area."
The grocery store was only a few steps away. Wen Xiao didn’t return immediately after buying the vegetables. He picked a direction and wandered aimlessly along the street.
Just as Grandma had said, he needed to get familiar with the area. He would be living here for a long time.
The old street had aged buildings, but everything needed for daily life was here. Wen Xiao passed by an electronics repair shop overflowing with outdated appliances, a barbershop offering haircuts for a mere ten yuan, and a tailor who doubled as a cobbler and bike mechanic. Unnoticed by him, his feet led him back to the hardware store.
The store was tidy and spacious, with a large green plant in the corner. Chi Ye was facing away from the door, helping Yaya with her homework inside.
"What’s a synonym for clear water?" Chi Ye asked, chewing on a white lollipop stick. He was wearing a black sweater with a low neckline, revealing a sharp, defined neck. His long legs were sprawled out, as if there was no place to put them. His posture was laid-back and cocky. It seemed he hadn’t slept in the right position the night before — his hair at the back of his head was flat.
Yaya, holding a pencil with a pink Barbie doll print, answered, "A synonym is clean water (干净水)."
Chi Ye absentmindedly tossed a coin in the air, dragging out his voice. "Two characters."
Yaya hesitated, then offered, "Dry water(干水)?"
Chi Ye raised an eyebrow. "Yaya, do you think your answer is correct?"
"It seems... not quite correct?" Yaya had changed into a light pink down jacket, with white fluffy trim around the collar and a pair of bunny ears dangling from the tip of the hood. But her bangs ruined the overall look.
She bit her pencil. "But, ge, you boiled all the water dry again this morning, and you burned the pot. We have to buy a new pot again. We've bought so many pots this year." She started counting on her fingers. "One, two, three, four, five, six. Ge, you’ve burned six pots!"
Chi Ye smirked. "You remember that clearly. Remind me again when your ge burns more than ten pots, OK?"
Yaya raised three fingers on her left hand, forming a circle with her thumb and index finger. "OK!"
Wen Xiao opened the fridge, paused in front of the Coca-Cola, then shifted the bottle twenty degrees and grabbed a lemon-flavored Sprite with a green label. He tapped the bottom of the aluminum can against the glass counter. "I’ll pay."
Chi Ye turned his head, saw it was Wen Xiao, and stood up to walk over. "Two bottles, six yuan total."
Wen Xiao didn’t have any small change, so he handed over a ten yuan note.
Remembering the previous three yuan debt, Chi Ye counted the money and placed seven yuan on the table. "The extra is for you to buy some candy."
Wen Xiao glanced at him, took a one yuan note from his bag, and pushed both the one yuan and Chi Ye’s seven yuan back toward him. "I’ll buy you a Coke. No need for change."
With that, Wen Xiao picked up the two bottles of Sprite and left.
Chi Ye stared at the coins in front of him. "Tsk, quite prickly."